Hello there! I'm back with another Les Mis songfic. This one is set to a song called "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" originally from an 1843 opera called The Bohemian Girl, and covered by multiple artists, such as Enya and Sinead O'Connor, ever since. Can you guess which version this is based off though? You probably can. A link will be on my profile in just a little bit.

This is a one-sided Eponine/Marius story, and let me make it clear right now: I don't ship Eponine and Marius. I ship Eponine and Enjolras, which explains one little detail you'll see later on in the story, but I don't particularly like Marius. They gave him a little more shape in the movie, but I just don't like him. However, when I was looking for songfic inspiration, this one hit me as perfect for Eponine and Marius. I could technically have written it Eponine/Enjolras also, but I decided to do something canon. I hope you guys like it!

As always, I don't own Les Mis or the song. I just have fun getting inspiration. Happy reading!

The only word to describe the palace was resplendent, and even that adjective seemed inadequate. Marble shone every surface, every wall, every corner, every inch of the building was covered in it. No wood, no other types of stone, nothing else had been used during construction, the edifice only consisted of marble. It contained more rooms than Versailles, it had played host to royalty from all of Western Europe; it had seen birth, life, marriages, and death.

It was a history, a country, a world all of its own.

And it all belonged to Eponine.

She didn't know how she could be so lucky, how anyone for that matter could be so lucky, to live in a place such as this, to call it home, to command the respect of those around her and be able to feel their love. She only hoped she was worthy of it, which everyone around her constantly assured her she was. Well, she had the love and respect of the nobility, that was for certain, but she wanted more than that. She wanted people to be able to trust her, to take care of those less fortunate than herself, to change things for the benefit of those citizens hard pressed to take care of themselves. Having snuck out of the palace a few times and lived amongst them, she understood their struggles, even if her actions were considered reckless, foolhardy, and conduct unbefitting of a young lady. Many of her equals did not understand these desires; a few did, and so those were the only ones she considered friends. No matter, she would convert the others eventually.

Tonight, however, for the first time in months, her mind did not occupy itself with the poor and homeless, and the work she could do for them. Her mind was on her one true love. There was to be a ball that evening, during which time she would select her husband. Or at least, that was what her father kept telling her. There was only one man she would accept, and it was her dearest wish that he ask her that night. If he didn't, she didn't know when she might get another chance to be with him.

She ran her comb through her hair one last time, fixed on a pair of earrings, gave herself one last appraising look in the mirror and proceeded down to the ballroom. As she walked through the halls, she gazed up at the portraits of those who had inhabited those halls before her and just how far back in time her ancestral name extended. She was expected to be as great as her predecessors and better, she was the hope and the pride of the family and the region. It was a difficult burden to bear every day, which was part of the reason she felt so inclined to escape to the streets of town, just to get away from it all.

The other reason was to see her beloved without her parents hovering nearby.

She stopped outside the ballroom, took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and nodded at the footmen to open the doors for her. Silence fell over the room as she stepped inside. She was an absolute vision and everyone knew it. With her long, ivory-colored dress, her dark hair pulled back in an elegant bun out of her face and her skin powdered so it looked absolutely flawless, she could capture the heart of any man she wanted. Of course, there was only one she wanted. She smiled brightly despite her nerves and proceeded inside. The eyes of everyone in the room were on her, from the wealthiest and most noble families of France who were in attendance (and hoping for her to marry one of their sons) to the vassals waiting by the walls of the dining room to serve anyone who asked. They were all looking at her, and she felt their love and hope in their eyes.

She lapped it up, her eyes slowly scanning the room for her love.

One by one, she was asked to dance by the most eligible bachelors in the country and she accepted out of politeness to them. Each one pledged his fidelity to her, for which she was grateful but tried to politely decline. Then one man in particular came forward, his locks of golden hair shining in the candlelight, holding out his hand for a dance. She hesitated; she knew he was going to ask for her hand in marriage, he had made no secret that he was going to do so. He was from one of the most prominent families in the region and he shared her beliefs in helping the poor. If ever there was an obvious choice in a husband, it was him. She stepped forward to agree to the dance when a voice to her left stopped her.

"Forgive me for intruding, but the lady Eponine has promised me a dance as well."

There it was, the voice she had been waiting all night to hear. Her face broke into a relieved smile as she turned to face the man in question.

Marius.

Her Marius.

"Would you do me the honor, my lady?" he asked, extending his hand.

"Yes, of course," she answered, grasping his hand and unable to keep her smile at bay. He bowed, she curtsied and he began to lead her into a waltz.

"My beautiful Eponine," he whispered. "How long I've waited for this night."

"Marius?" she whispered back, hoping that meant what she thought it did.

"I loved you the moment I laid eyes on you, you know that," he continued. "Even dressed in rags and covered in dirt, I thought you were the most glorious creature that ever lived. Your eyes shone so brightly, it was as though you were challenging anyone to try and put out that spark in them."

It was true. The first time she had met Marius was on one of her promenades outside the gates of her home. She would always dress herself up as a ragamuffin, stay in the shadows and observe. Marius had rescued her from being another man's prey, and like the knight-in-shining armor in a fairytale, she had fallen in love with him. And he with her. It was a few weeks later when he found out who she really was. They would meet occasionally in the park at night, both dressed as beggars so they wouldn't be noticed and would sit and talk. Then one evening, he had been invited to dinner by her parents and he found her for what she really was. But to her surprise, he didn't love her any less for it. On the contrary, he thought she was courageous (albeit reckless) for her actions and impressed in her beliefs, which he shared. That was what she loved about him: that he loved her no matter her background or her looks. He loved her just for being herself.

"Eponine, my love," he said, stopping the dance and stepping back to kneel down in front of her.

"Marius," she gasped, bringing a hand to her mouth in delight.

"Eponine!" she heard someone call in the crowd, but she ignored them focusing back on Marius.

"Eponine," he began again and she nodded for him to continue.

"EPONINE!"

The sudden, angry shout sent her crashing back to reality and she started awake, breathing heavily and probably lucky that she avoided falling off the bed from the force of her jump. Actually, it was very lucky she hadn't fallen; it would've just given her father even more license to mock her.

"Get up, you lazy gutter snipe!" Monsieur Thenardier shouted again, leering at her and showing his mouthful of rotten teeth. "We've got places to go, things to do, and people to rob."

Eponine sighed, waited until her father had left the room and buried her face in her pillow. It had all been just a dream. But then again, she wasn't surprised; what else did she expect from living in a building made of marble and the love of her life actually returning her sentiments? No, she had to face the facts. She was a thief and a whore, her father had regularly sold her for years and the man she loved more than anyone else only thought of her as a friend. She'd had many dreams of him swooping in and rescuing her from the Hell that was her day to day life, from dodging her father's gang and the blows she suffered at his hands. But she sighed as she realized that wouldn't happen. Marius might well rescue her someday, but she very much doubted that he'd realize that he'd loved her all along.

"Eponine!"

Now it was her mother who was calling her. Eponine let out another low groan at that. Her mother might not ever hit her, but she certainly didn't do anything to protect her eldest child either.

"Up! Now!" Madame said sternly as she came into the room. "Your father has business to attend to today and if you help, he might not send you to the docks tonight!"

Eponine wanted dearly to retort that swindling and stealing didn't technically count as business, but she wisely kept her mouth shut. Business, for him, had always meant cheating people, even when they ran their inn at Montfeirmeil. Besides, she was willing to do anything if it meant not whoring herself down at the docks; she'd learned long ago she'd rather give herself to her father's gang instead of taking her chances with the scum that hung around in those areas. She sighed again and got up, abandoning her lovely dream and got herself ready for another day of harsh reality.

She got through the morning by keeping her head down and doing as she was told. She knew that if she didn't draw attention to herself, her father would soon forget she was there and she'd be able to sneak away for a few minutes. Enjolras and the rest of the Amis were holding a rally in front of General Lemarque's house that afternoon and she wanted to go listen. Mostly she wanted to see Marius but she also enjoyed listening to Enjolras speak. It also gave her a chance to check up on Gavroche, whom she worried about constantly but also knew he was in fairly safe hands with the Amis.

As soon as she was able, she snuck away from her father and dashed to the home of General Lemarque. As soon as he saw her, Marius' smile spread across his face like the sun appearing after a storm. It was that look at her that gave him the confidence to speak, to change things for her sake. She smiled as he stood up next to Enjolras and began to speak.

"With all the anger in the land, how long before the judgment day? Before we cut the fat ones down to size!" Enjolras called into the crowd, earning a round of cheers from his mass of supporters. She kept her eyes on Marius, worried that he was in over his head but proud of his beliefs.

She had no idea that later that same afternoon he would fall in love with a young, blonde ingénue called Cosette, a girl Eponine remembered from her childhood. She had no idea that that evening she would be leading Marius to the Rue Plumet to be able to meet the girl and seal her own heartbreak. No, at that moment, she concentrated on his face and pretended he was smiling at her in the same way he did in the dream as he was about to ask for her hand in marriage. "If he asked, I'd be his," she whispered.

She would return to that dream many times in the coming nights, imagining that he had broken off his own engagement in order to marry her. Every night it was the same thing. She would dream of them forsaking all others for each other and then wake up to the barricades about to rise. She clung to her dream for as long as she could. Even as Marius held her when she lay dying on the barricade and she assured him that she didn't feel any pain, she convinced herself that deep down, he did love her. And in a way, he did.

"But I also dreamt, which charmed me most, that you loved me still the same."

So what did you guys think? Did I do all right? Eponine loves Marius beyond imagining, I thought it would be fun to see what sort of dreams she might have about him. And I think he does love her in his own way, just not the way she wants him to. She's willing to give up everything for him, while he's head over heels for another girl. He loves her as a friend, a confidant, maybe even a sister, and he's scared of losing her, but he can't love her the way she deserves to be loved. He's able to move on after she dies because he has Cosette waiting for him. I mean, right after Eponine dies, he says, "life without Cosette means nothing at all," like five minutes after "A Little Fall of Rain." That's another reason for me to read the book, I need to see if it goes into more detail on how he takes those first few hours after Eponine passes. I'll read it eventually.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed my little story. As always, please leave a comment or just favorite. Happy New Year everyone!